Republican Super PAC to get involved in Ky. 2011 races

A national Republican fundraising group is picking Kentucky as one of its first targets to spend unlimited amounts of money on behalf of GOP candidates, its founder confirmed to Pure Politics.

The Republican Super PAC was formed in mid-May by James Bopp, Jr., the lawyer involved in the well-known Citizens United Supreme Court case that set the precedent for allowing mega political action committees that can accept unlimited donations.

The Republican Super PAC is such an organization, similar to the American Crossroads group that formed last year and played a major role in 2010 U.S. Senate races.

On Friday, Republican Super PAC filed with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance to be able to raise and spend money on the statewide races, according to documents filed with KREF that Pure Politics requested under Kentucky’s open records law.

Bopp said in a phone interview that the group decided to get involved in Kentucky this year because of limited options nationwide, with only four states having governor races this fall.

“There are very few states that have elections this year,” Bopp said. “So obviously the ones that have elections are ones we may get involved in.”

Bopp declined to discuss the group’s strategy, such as how much it aims to raise and spend and which races on which it will focus.

Bopp said the Super PAC won’t have to adhere to Kentucky’s campaign donation limits. Because it is a national PAC that can accept unlimited donation amounts, it can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money for its Kentucky operation, Bopp said.

The invitation says the group will be involved in elections from mayoral races to legislative and gubernatorial campaigns to congressional races.

According to a Politico“article”:http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/55091.html on RSPAC’s formation, the group won’t independently raise money. Instead, it gives donors a place to send additional money after they max out to Republican candidates and political parties campaign funds.

For example, if an individual gives the Kentucky GOP nominee for governor a $1,000 donation, they have “maxed out” to the nominee. At that point, the contributor could write a check for any amount to the Republican Super PAC-Kentucky, which could then spend money on ads supporting the Republican candidate in the governor’s race.